A PRIMARY school has come under fire after a five-year-old pupil was able to give his teachers the slip to scale a fence and walk a mile home alone.

McKenzie Smith gave his parents the shock of their life when, as his mum prepared to leave to pick him up from Hilton Primary School in Blakelaw, Newcastle, he sauntered round the corner.

It emerged he had carried out his escape by climbing over the school fence, before making the journey to his home around 15 minutes’ walk away in Highlands Road, crossing several roads including the busy Ponteland Road, one of the main routes out of Newcastle.

His parents Dominque and Alan Smith are now demanding answers from the school into how the incident was allowed to happen, and why the first they learned their son had escaped was when he turned up on their doorstep.

“My kid could have been killed,” said Dominique, 26. “I am absolutely fuming and cry when I think about what could have happened. I just can’t believe he crossed that busy road on his own.

“The cars fly along it. We were nearly knocked down and killed there when he was one week old and I was pushing him in the pram when a car went through a red light.

“I was standing out in the garden about to leave to pick him and his sister up when I saw this little boy walking down the street. I never for a moment thought it would be him. Then as he got closer I realised it was my son. I panicked and ran down the street thinking there must be someone with him, but he was on his own.

“I asked him what he was doing and he said he’d climbed over the fences while they were out in the school garden. But was no one watching him?

“I know he loves climbing things, but nothing like this has ever happened before. He knows he’s done wrong and he was trembling when he got back.”

Dominique then says she rang the school to see what had happened and they told her he had gone missing at around 2.50pm. He had arrived at home at 3.10pm.

Dad Craig, 51, added: “Why did no one ring us sooner to tell us he was missing? They also told us the police were called, but the police say they have no record of a call.

“Anything could have happened to him over that mile, it’s a canny little hike for a five-year-old.

“I don’t want the school to look like a prison, but they need to get higher fences.”

The couple live with their children McKenzie and Leon, eight months, and Alan’s children from a previous relationship Alan, 15, Ricky, 13, and Cora, nine.

McKenzie had just started in the reception class, after attending the school nursery.

Shirley Davison, headteacher at Hilton Primary School, said: “We can confirm that a child did leave the school premises yesterday after climbing two fences.

“An investigation was carried out by staff as soon as the child was discovered missing.

“We were in the process of calling the police and the family when the family reported that the child had arrived safely at home.

“While this was a worry for all concerned, we feel the school could not have done anything to prevent it. We have spoken with both parents, and we will also be installing some higher fences.

“This kind of incident is extremely rare, but we are sorry for the distress this has caused.”

A spokeswoman for Northumbria Police said they did not have any record of a call being made regarding the incident.